The Washington Wizards are not very good. Let’s just leave that there for a moment.
Flip Saunders’ abilities are up for some debate. He’s got a pretty good career record of 636-514, which is on par with Doc Rivers of the Boston Celtics, who is now regarded among the upper-tier coaches in the league. But he’s kind of like the NBA’s Norv Turner. The record hides an underlying issue that just prevents him from getting to the next level. Despite his record, he’s never even gotten to the NBA Finals.
This is an extensive set up for what seems to just be an honest mistake, but it’s that set up that adds the perspective and context that makes everyone roll eyes and facepalm when hearing this story. Flip Saunders forgot to put Roger Mason, Jr. on last night’s active roster. Then he put Mase in last night’s game. And he scored.
Mason checked in for Jordan Crawford with 3:27 remaining and made a baseline jumper seven seconds later. However, during a timeout at the 2:53 mark, the Wizards were whistled for a technical foul for playing an ineligible player.
The basket was later taken away from Mason and credited to Rashard Lewis. Brandon Jennings made the technical free throw.
Hey, people make mistakes. Maybe Flip was in a hurry. Maybe he was making the list and the pizza delivery guy showed up and distracted him. Maybe he was watching Javale McGee and Nick Young eat cinnamon. Who knows? But the fact that Flip did it, and this is the Wizards, just adds another fail to his list of fails.
Meanwhile, 2 of Rashard’s 14 were actually scored by Roger Mason, Jr. Consider it a late Christmas gift.
Lookin’ like a Wizards season. How U?
